By the time Bayfield reached double-digits offensively Thursday night, less than one eight-minute quarter remained in the Wolverines’ first game since Dec. 21.
Then, by the time senior standout Renae Foutz, held scoreless through three quarters, sank a 3-pointer for her first basket, Aztec’s advantage had ballooned to an overwhelming 37-7 and the Tigers coasted to a 42-19 win inside Lillywhite Gymnasium.
Knowing a showdown on Tuesday with Piedra Vista (7-7 overall) was quickly approaching and knowing momentum might come in handy, AHS (7-5 overall) couldn’t have started any better, with senior Bailey Clarence winning the opening tip and junior Autumn Villanueva tripling moments later on the contest’s first shot.
Junior Jazzlyn Gomez then set up freshman reserve Eqqo Begay’s corner trey with 5:57 left in the first quarter, but BHS began the second only trailing 8-4 after junior center Sylvia Hesford had blocked Clarence’s runner in the paint with 2.8 ticks left.
The Tigers got going when sophomore Khloe Schmidt canned a 3-pointer with 6:05 to play until halftime. Sophomore Camden Mariano soon followed with a 2-pointer, and Villanueva increased the lead to 16-4 by catching junior Camila Dominguez’s crosscourt skip pass and calmly connecting from long-range.
Things could have gotten away from the Wolverines (3-4 overall) even faster had Aztec capitalized on spending the half’s last 2:41 in the free throw bonus. But along similar lines, Bayfield failed to build upon an important opportunity from the charity stripe. Fouled by Clarence with 11.1 seconds left, freshman Kieley White Thunder missed her two attempts and Aztec led 19-5 at halftime.
Clarence restarted the scoring in the third quarter with a free throw widening the margin to 20-5. Gomez soon followed another Clarence FT with a 3-pointer. Bayfield sophomore Vivien Clance countered with a deuce, but AHS turned up the heat and assisted by Mariano, Gomez drained a left-wing trey, growing the locals’ lead to 32-7.
Schmidt started the final frame booking back-to-back layups for a 30-point lead.
Gomez finished with a game-high 12 points after going 4-of-8 from the foul line and Schmidt totaled 10.
In defeat, Foutz (4-6 FT) scored all of her BHS-best nine points during the fourth quarter, and Clance (3-7 FT) finished with seven points.
Bayfield traveled to 3A Telluride on Saturday but results were unavailable at press time.
